Beth Israel steps up LGBT marketing

Labor Endorsements Splintered

The New York State Nurses Association is endorsing candidates in 15 City Council races, in addition to backing mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate hopeful Letitia James, and Scott Stringer's bid to be city comptroller. In announcing the union's support of Mr. Stringer yesterday, NYSNA President Jill Furillo said the overriding issue is stopping hospital closings. "Our nurse members decided that we could not sit this election out when the lives of so many of our patients are at stake," she said. But one political strategist who has long followed city elections questioned whether the union's decision would have any impact. "The big picture is that organized labor wanted to be a big force in this election, but their impact has been diluted," the source said. "With District Council 37 endorsing John Liu, even though SEIU 1199 and NYSNA endorse Bill de Blasio, labor has canceled out its potential impact." In endorsing Mr. Stringer, NYSNA cited a long list of what it said are his health care achievements as Manhattan borough president. NYSNA said that includes fighting to save Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn and his unsuccessful quest several years ago to keep St. Vincent's Hospital from closing.

Plans' Merger Gets Approval

MVP Health Care and Hudson Health Plan said yesterday they have finalized their merger, which was first announced in May. The state Department of Health approved the change last week. Hudson, based in Tarrytown, N.Y., will continue to do business under its current name but will be part of the larger organization. MVP Health Care, based in Schenectady, has more than 600,000 members in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. Hudson has about 120,000 members in New York's Hudson Valley. Hudson has long specialized in Medicaid managed care coverage, while MVP has more diverse offerings.

PM Pediatrics Expands

Long Island-based PM Pediatrics is due to open a second New Jersey site on Sept. 16. The facility will be at 2421 U.S. Route 1, in North Brunswick. It will be the company's seventh practice site. The practices offer walk-in urgent care from 4 p.m. to 11 p .m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends. Each facility has a pediatric emergency specialist on staff. A Brooklyn office will also open this fall, but no target date has been set. PM Pediatrics was founded in 2005 by Dr. Jeffrey Schor. It is headquartered in Lake Success.

Beth Israel steps up LGBT marketing

With North Shore-LIJ due to open a new facility in the West Village, Beth Israel is working to corner the LGBT market in Manhattan and beyond. The hospital recently hired Barbara Warren, a prominent LGBT advocate, to blog on health care and raise awareness of health issues and the hospital's record of specializing in care that is sensitive to LGBT needs.

Ms. Warren was formerly director of the LGBT Center at Roosevelt House-Hunter College. Continuum Health Partners runs Beth Israel Medical Group, located in the West Village, which has a longstanding LGBT practice.

"[Beth Israel] is a medical home for the LGBT community," said Dr. Richard Amiraian, Continuum's vice president for ambulatory care. "We have the infrastructure in place, and we are very proud of what we do, including [medical] residency education."

But the system wants to do more to draw such patients. There's a big market at stake. Ms. Warren said "about 4% to 7% of the New York metropolitan area identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, so that's about half a million people."

The health system has stepped up its advertising in certain periodicals and in targeted neighborhoods like Chelsea. "Not the papers you pick up in the bars, but ones like Gay City News," said a Continuum spokesman.

Providing LGBT-friendly services in the outer boroughs remains a challenge, Dr. Amiraian said. Beth Israel Medical Group has a practice in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, but in general most patients come into New York for LGBT-friendly care.

The shortage of services outside New York City may improve. Dr. Amiraian said after a recent talk he gave addressed to physicians, "The question I kept getting was, 'How do we start something like this? How can I get my hospital to do this?' "

At A Glance

WEBINAR: A free webinar for insurance brokers planning to use the New York State of Health benefits exchange will be offered on Sept. 9. The session is presented by New York State of Health. The sponsors said they had inadvertently originally scheduled the webinar for Sept. 5, the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Registration is still open here. The webinar ID is 122-203-819.

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